18/08/2016 - Vibeke Idsøe’s first film in six years, The Lion Woman, Hallvard Bræin’s blockbuster sequel Børning 2 – On Ice and Erik Poppe’s The King’s Choice are among them

Norwegian directors Vibeke Idsøe’s first film in six years, The Lion Woman [+see also:
trailer
interview: Vibeke Idsøe
film profile], and Hallvard Bræin’s Børning 2 – On Ice [+see also:
trailer
interview: Hallvard Bræin
film profile] – the sequel to his car-racing comedy, which became the most popular Norwegian film of 2014, taking 381,648 admissions and snagging four Amandas, the national film prize – are among the 15 premieres slated for the autumn season, the line-up of which was presented on 16 August by the Norwegian Film Institute at Oslo’s Film House.

“The productions have been 37% supported by government funding – the rest of the budgets come from international pre-sales, private investors who have faith in films, and filmmakers’ investments,” said the institute’s managing director, Sindre Guldvog, at the season introduction attended by producers, directors and actors from the films. 

“It shows that the filmmakers have a strong will to get their films made, and that they are talented at attaining national and international finance, which is necessary in an increasingly international market. The result is even better Norwegian films, and the eventual winner of this is the cinema audience,” Guldvog concluded.

Both The Lion Woman (which will open the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund on 20 August) and Børning 2 – On Ice were produced by veteran Norwegian producer John M Jacobsen’s Oslo outfit, Filmkameratene. Based on Norwegian author Erik Fosnes Hansen’s novel, and starring Rolf Lassgård, Connie Nielsen, Burghart Klaussner and Kjersti Tveterås, the period drama set between 1912 and 1937 follows Eva, who is born with hair covering her whole body. Despite the many challenges that are thrown at her, she manages to face and overcome them. 

While Børning 1 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] depicted a car race between Oslo and North Cape, the sequel sends the drivers from the Norwegian west coast through Sweden and Finland to Murmansk in Russia. With Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Ida Husøy and Sven Nordin in the leads, Børning 2 - On Ice will reach local cinemas on 12 October.

Two children’s and family films are also on the slate: Norwegian directors Peder Hamdahl Næss’ Little Grey Fergie - Full Throttle [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (out on 9 September) and Rasmus A Sivertsen’s In the Forest of Huckybucky [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (out on 25 December). Little Grey Fergie is the fifth film about Norway’s most famous tractor, a Ferguson TE20, who, after a serious accident, has his heart (a spark plug) transplanted into a sports car. Meanwhile, Sivertsen’s fully animated film is based on Norwegian author Thorbjørn Egner’s 1949 children’s classic, about Claus Climbermouse, Morten Wood Mouse, Mister Hare and all their tiny animal friends.

After his award-winning A Thousand Times Good Night [+see also:
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile] (2013), Norwegian director Erik Poppe has filmed The King’s Choice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile], a historical drama describing the three days after Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940 and gave King Haakon the ultimatum of “surrender or die”. Starring Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen and Tuva Novotny, it will open on 23 September.